New Delhi, Aug 20 (IANS): The Congress on Saturday targeted the BJP on cow protection and said for the ruling party it means "killing of minority people".

"The new definition of 'gau raksha' is killing of innocents, preferably of the minority community, walking down the roads," Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said.

He wondered aloud if the BJP's Chhattisgarh government will charge its leader Harish Verma, at whose cow shelter over 200 cattle died of alleged starvation and lack of medicines, under harsher provisions of the law.

"If this is the new definition of cow protection, I suppose everybody should ignore this terrible, terrible event," the Congress leader said.

"If I recollect correctly, no less than a death penalty has been demanded (in such cases) more than once by Chief Minister (Raman Singh) in the past. I wonder whether even a charge involving death penalty will be pressed against ‘one of their own'," Singhvi said.

"But, obviously, the answer is 'no', because double standards is the BJP's hallmark," the Congress leader said.